RSE Information (Year 7 & 8)

11th February 2021

Relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education (RSHE)

Dear Parent/Carer,

As a part of your child's educational experience at Scissett Middle school we aim to promote personal wellbeing and development through a comprehensive programme of Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education that gives children and young people the knowledge, understanding, attitudes and practical skills to live healthy, safe, productive and fulfilled lives, both now and in the future.

The Department for Education announced changes to relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) following nationwide consultation. The new RSHE curriculum came into effect from September 2020 and all schools will be required to comply with the updated requirements fully (with a revised policy in place) by the start of the summer term 2021. Whilst much of the content will be very familiar to parents, there is some interesting new content on mental health/emotional wellbeing and basic first aid.

Does the new DfE statutory Relationships and Health Education guidance replace PSHE ed?

No. From September 2020, we have started to teach the content in the DfE's Relationships Education and Health Education statutory guidance. However, the new guidance does not cover everything needed for a comprehensive PSHE ed curriculum. Vital elements such as the rights of the child, caring for the environment, economic education, and parts of British Values and SMSC (Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural education) are not included. At Scissett Middle School we will continue to teach PSHE ed (pupils might know it as “Life”) and the RSHE will be part of that.

The new RSHE guidance:

Before we can start to discuss the revised RSHE (or PSHE ed) curriculum we need to know what the guidance says. There are some parts we have to do and other parts that we can choose to do. You can help us to decide on what matters to our school and our community.

The following documents can be accessed from the school website or though the links below:

• The full statutory guidance can be found at DfE Statutory Guidance for RSE
• A very useful summary version can be found at DfE: guides for parents
• Some frequently asked questions can be found at: DfE: FAQs

The new guidance focuses on healthy relationships and keeping children safe in the modern world. It also covers a wide range of topics relating to physical and mental health, wellbeing, safeguarding and healthy relationships. Learning about the emotional, social and physical aspects of growing up will give children and young people the information, skills and positive values to have safe, fulfilling relationships and help them take responsibility for their own well-being.

After half-term, we will be asking for your views about the new curriculum and how we can best work with you to support your child with the learning.

To help us plan for this engagement we would like you to think about the two questions below:

(1) How could the school help you understand more about our new RSHE/PSHE education curriculum? (for example: more information about the new guidance, information about the content of the curriculum (what my child will learn) at this school, a chance to talk to my child’s class teacher, to look at some of the activities or resources used…)

(2) How would you like the school to reflect your family (including your faith and/or values) in our teaching? (for example: talk about different types of families, explain that religions have different views about relationships and family life, learning about the importance of equality and respect for difference.

Thank you for your support for this important part of the school curriculum.

Kind Regards

Mrs A Large

Headteacher